‘Person of Interest’ Star Knew Her Character Was Doomed: Watch

Viewers may have been shocked, but the death of Det. Joss Carter in this week’s episode of “Person of Interest” was no surprise to the actress who played her, Taraji P. Henson.

“I knew when I signed on [three years ago to do the show],” she told David Letterman in an appearance on his CBS “Late Show” Wednesday night — the day after Det. Carter was fatally shot in the final moments of the “Person of Interest” episode Tuesday night.

“Well, I knew when I signed on to do the project that the character would have a beginning middle and an end,” she said. “I do more feature films and television is really not my thing,” she explained, “so I thought it would be the perfect venue for me to do a television show and not be stuck for seven years [the standard contract length for TV shows] and still be able to do whatever. [So] I knew when I signed on because I was like, ‘I can’t give you seven years!'”